Dawlish Discussion

Here's one to be wary of if you have a local business with a van or 4x4 with or without a trailer and you have to visit the Marsh Barton area.

The biker Police and their mates from VOSA are currently running a fund raising campaign in the Marsh Barton area. They are pulling over small and medium vehicles they suspect are being used commercially indescriminatly in other words you dont have to have done anything wrong its their own descretion. You are then escorted to the VOSA testing station where your vehicle is gone over with a fine tooth comb by people who dont have to prove any right or qualification to do this.

We where today detained for over an hour and a half our vehicle was given a prohibition order even though it was only MOTd  4-weeks ago for something which could quite easily have been damaged by the state of the roads and was not likely to cause an immediate failure of the vehicles safety.

This can only be described as a SCAM you have to repair the fault and then pay for a new MOT and then waste even more time copying paperwork to both the Police headquarters and VOSA officies before your vehicle is allowed back on the road.

What makes this absolute hit on local businesses nothing but a money makeing excerise, is that niether the Police officers or the VOSA examiners where based locally. They had been drafted in from Liskeard in Cornwall at the tax payers expense.

No doubt the Police are still wondering why people these days have no respect for them. Maybe they should think about that one when real crime is going uninvestigated whillst they carry out activities like this. Why are VOSA allowed Police backup in any case, and if this activity is going to be a reqular thing whats the point of the MOT apparently its only valid for seven days and isent worth the paper its printed on, Testers words not mine. 

How is it a scam you have a faulty vehicle that failed its test the officers involved where from Devon And Cornwall Constabulary who can be sent to any town, city within the force area at a moments notice you only feel badly done to because you where caught as do all motorists. You also comment about crime is going uninvestigated so what are these crimes and when did they take place, have you considered the lives that are saved by these spot checks when serious faults are found on vehicles. Your MOT is valid for twelve months but after 7 days it is your responsobility to check that your vehicle is roadworthy apparantly you didnt just because a vehicle has a MOT doesnt mean it is safe to be on the road.  

The point is being detained against my will for a hour and a half and why can we just not repair the vehicle and return it to the same place for it to be checked, why does it have to have a complete new MOT at a cost of £60. As said its a SCAM. The other point is, it wasent a fixed test on particular items, nobody was getting away, if nothing was obvious the further they looked till they found something. Also why do they never do this for normal cars, which are more likely to be driving around in an un roadworthy condition.

The other things that proves this method of spot check to be a SCAM are 

A) The Police dont need a reason to stop you unlike normal were you have to have commited a moving driving offense. You are also under unofficial arrest for the length of time it takes to check you vehicle.

B) The tester is not obliged to prove his qualifications  for doing this job, cannot be held responsible for any damage he may do to your vehicle or property, and does not have to answer any questions.

C) Having read the paperwork there is no right to appeal   

As for the saving lives comment and seeing as people like proof on here what are the figures Leatash, how many lives has this sort of SCAM saved

If the police have got that much time on their hands get them out filling the ****** potholes.  That one is opening up again on the way into town.  Shoddy work and very damaging to vehicles.

They do stop normal cars whatever they are i was stopped last July on the A38 for a spot MOT the VOSA officer found nothing wrong and after 45 mins i went on my way. Fred if 1 life is saved by these stop checks then its worth it plus everything else that may be found drugs, illegal imigrants, those who are wanted on warrants etc, etc.  And then of course the very stupid comment by flo so if one of your children or relatives where killed by a vehicle not fit to be on the road you would blame the Police or maybe both of you just dont like authority.

Funny Flo should mention that, because the fault found on our truck was most likely caused by the state of the roads as I said it was only MOTd four weeks ago and the missing part was definatley attached to the vehicle then.

I personally dont mind the checks, but as said the system used is unfair and a SCAM, not everone has access to a pit so they can check under their vehicle on a daily basis as sugested. I dont believe even the Police check their vehicles to that extent and whillst in the queue I spotted one of the police motorcycles with a deeply grooved front brake disc that was probably a worse fault than the one found on our truck

If we are going to make emotional comments leatash, how would you feel if your child had an accident on a potholes road whilst on a bike or motorbike? I have no problem with authority thank you very much but I do have a major problem with ABUSE of authority. Did I ever mention the time I was overtaken on the motorway by police cars with blues and twos going only to find the same police eating breakfast in a cafe a mile down the road. My major issue with the police is they have become a money making organisation which will only get worse with future cutbacks. 

In addition to the abuse of authority, what has happened to the uniform dress code and lack of personal respect. Yesterdays officer was unshaven had a dirty filthy missmatched uniform, and couldnt speak to you in an understanderble way due to having a mouth full of chewing gum. He looked more like a Hells Angel than a Police officer. Absolute disgrace.

Still no answer as to why VOSA have the right to use Police back up and who pays. At least four officers and their bikes on £???? per hour

Ive just come back from there and I saw 3 Police bikes + car sat on the sidelines

fredbasset the answer is simple vosa officers are not autharised to stop or direct traffic neither can they p.n.c vehicles they therefore have to request a police presence so they can carry out their inspections and these can be planed up to a year ahead.  why officers from cornwall its only a asssumption but traffic officers in devon have taken the brunt of the cuts drasticaly reducing their numbers i presume the only officers available where in cornwall. and they probably did look a bit bedragled after riding a bike along dirty wet roads from cornwall.  @flo so what have potholes got to do with the police i was under the impression it was devon highways who by the way i phone at least 4 times a week reporting potholes and i have already reported the one you mention but the more folk complain the sooner it will be done. the last point is abuse of authority vosa have a legal right to check your vehicle at any time and a police officer has the right to direct and stop you so vosa can carry out their inspection there is no abuse of authority they are just doing their duty. i will make the point fred that all motoring offence fines that are issued by either the courts or by police officers issuing a fpn end up in the lord chancelors office and are then transfered to the goverments coffers the police dont make a dime. 

Potholes have got a lot to do with traffic police leatash I would have thought.  I've just this evening reported another serious pothole on an unlight part of the main road to Newton which will mean my tracking needs sorting yet again, wouldn't want to be stopped because my tyres are wearing down unevenly.  Be very careful anyone going that way it's very dangerous and I just hope no bikes hit it before it's filled in. 

It makes no difference to me whether the Police make money for themselves or the Government, it's the same thing to me.  The money isn't being spent where it should be.  I would have thought less obvious stops would be better as when they set up in places like Exeter with those big operations, people get to find out about it and I imagine most people transporting illegal immigrants will avoid that area.

As Fred says above I would love to see the stats but as someone else said on this foum, stats can be massaged to say whatever you want, depending on how you present them.

@flo the police used to deal with potholes the police traffic wardens duties included the safety of roads and pavements so a pothole was reported to devon county and usualy fixed within 48 hours of course when decrim was introduced and we lost those officers it fell to the public to report potholes.  if your vehicle is damaged by a pothole claim the money from devon county but you must have a photo of the hole and a garage repair bill i have recently made a claim and recieved the money so it can be done.

Thanks Leatash.  I'm aware you can claim I just hate the claim culture and would just prefer them to spend the money claimed on fixing the roads more quickly in the first place.  I can't believe no-one from Highway Maintenance or the Police, or in fact any civil servant hasn't driven past some of these potholes and seen how dangerous they could be and reported them.  Perhaps an open view of all potholes reported should be available and a bit like ePetition when a certain number of individual reports and/or period of time they could move to red with a fine being issued to that Council, that might put a rocket up them.  Anyway, I've deviated from topic somewhat ...

flo i have the same thoughts about making claims but i had 3 hefty repair bills due to potholes in as many weeks so decided enough was enough folk generally wont report things as they always believe someone else has.  The secret is the more folk complain adding the phrase i think my car is damaged its amazing how fast repairs are carried out.